


Cloud 9

by phlanetary



Series: Parent!Phan AU [1]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: ?? - Freeform, AU, Airplane, Alternate Universe, Gen, Parent!AU, aeroplane, alternative universe, for the muricans, idk what it's called shut up, parent!phan, travelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 05:57:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19101094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phlanetary/pseuds/phlanetary
Summary: Parent!Phan AU. It’s May’s first time flying and she’s feeling a bit nervous.





	Cloud 9

**Author's Note:**

> so i guess i’m writing parent!au’s again!! i just wanted to make a lil note to say that for those of you who’ve been following me for a long time, might remember that a few years ago i posted a fic of dan and phil’s daughter coming out to them as a trans girl. this is may. in the original fic she was called jackie, but i changed it because i liked may better. i really want to keep this au and write more about it so if you have any requests for me to write i’d be happy to! but without further ado, here is the fic :)
> 
> thanks so much to [@itsmyusualphannie](https://itsmyusualphannie.tumblr.com) for looking over the fic and giving me feedback!!

Alec calls my name from outside my bedroom door and my heart nearly jumps out of my chest. My eyes fly wide open and despite the early hour, every ounce of drowsiness that was once in me disappears as soon as I take my first breath of the day. With a grin as wide as the sky I bounce off my bed and quickly pull on a pair of sweatpants and my favourite Rapunzel T-shirt, which I had saved specifically for this day. I love my Rapunzel T-shirt. It fits so nicely on me, and it makes me feel like a princess. One day I’m going to be just like Rapunzel, I think. I’ll have long, soft, golden hair and I’ll get to watch the floating lights. One day.

‘Come on, May, we’re gonna be late!’ Alec’s voice hilariously cracks every few words and I have to put a hand to my mouth to keep myself from laughing. My brother is fourteen, three years older than me, and he started getting his voice cracks about a year ago after his enormous growth spurt had just ended. Now he’s about 5’10 tall and sounds like a human volcano about to erupt every time he speaks.

‘I’m on my way!’ I yell back, giggling to myself. Nothing, not even a grumpy teenage boy, could bring my mood down today.

We’re going on holiday today. Well, my siblings and I are, at least. Our dads are going to be working, but they said they’ll have plenty of time to hang out with us as well. Usually, they go on these trips alone, and Uncle Martin and Aunt Cornelia watch us for a couple of days, but the workload wasn’t going to be as big this time and now that Estelle is old enough to be watched by Alec and me, they felt they could finally bring us with them. We’re going to America, to a big, big city called New York. I’ve never been there before, but I’ve seen it in films and music videos and I think it’s my favourite city ever. When I grow up and I become Rapunzel I’m going to live there and let people climb my long hair to my skyscraper flat. It’s a slightly different version of the story, but it works.

I open my door and Alec is no longer there, but I can hear his footsteps at the end of the staircase. The hallway is empty, almost eerie at this time of day, with the only light source being a white strip of sun rays from the tiny window above the staircase. I hop down the stairs on my way to the kitchen, my messy pigtails bouncing up and down my shoulders.

The whole house smells of breakfast and coffee. Piano music is playing softly in the background, Daddy must have put on something while he cooks. Estelle is already at the table, drinking something out of a cup whilst reading one of her Cars books. She loves Cars, she’s watched every film, read every book about them and has every piece of merchandise there is. She’s literally wearing her Lightning McQueen skirt right now. Tata, my other dad, also sits at the table, sipping on his coffee while reading his own book. Alec prefers calling our dads by their names, Dan and Phil, but Estelle and I say Daddy and Tata. Tata means dad in Polish, and though Estelle nor me remember anything about the land from which we were adopted, we think it’s a nice way to interpret our heritage into our lives. And Tata seems to think the same.

I clap my hands together to announce my presence. ‘Good morning!’ I sit down at the table, grab a slice of bread from the bread platter and teasingly smile at my brother who’s sitting on the couch a bit away, looking worse than ever. I stick out my tongue at him and he grunts something that sounds like ‘mornin’…’ under his breath.

‘Morning, May,’ Tata says and smiles over his book, only to return to it the second after.

Daddy turns around and waves at me. ‘Hey, sweetie, want some pancakes? I just finished another one.’

‘Yeah!’ I say. Daddy smiles and runs over to my side of the table to kiss my cheek, then bounces back to the stove.

‘You’re in a good mood, Danny boy,’ Tata teases. He puts away his book, walks over to the stove and hugs Daddy from behind. Daddy leans back at him and kisses him on the lips, which is my cue to look away and audibly gag. Jesus Christ, I’m trying to eat here.

Daddy laughs. ‘Shut up, little bug.’ I don’t know if he’s saying it to me or to Tata, but either way I’m too disgusted to care. (I’m actually not that disgusted, it’s just fun to be dramatic. But don’t tell them I said that.)

Tata kisses Daddy on the cheek and then sits down with us again, just in time for my pancake to arrive on my plate. ‘So, you kids excited for New York?’

Estelle looks up from her book. ‘Yeah! I can’t wait to go on the plane!’ she exclaims.

I was just about to bite down on the first piece of pancake in my mouth when I stopped. The plane.

I’ve been on a plane once, when my siblings and I came from Poland to England, but I was three so I don’t remember much. I remember drawing in a little colouring book with some kind of superheroes in it, and how upset I got when the plane went into turbulence and I accidentally drew over the lines with my crayon. But that’s it. I don’t even remember what it’s like being on a plane. Is it scary? Will it feel like I’m thirty thousand feet up in the sky or will it feel like being in a car?

I try not to think too much about it. Nothing can ruin this day.

‘You excited about the plane? Do you think it’ll be fun?’ Tata asks Estelle and she nods eagerly.

‘I’m gonna tell all my friends in school about it,’ she says proudly, ‘they’ll be so jealous I was flying like Dusty!’

Daddy giggles. ‘I’m sure some of your friends have been in planes before. We’ve just been really bad at taking you kids abroad.’

‘Oh, that’s not true, they’ve been abroad!’ Tata says. ‘We went to Paris last year!’

‘Yeah, but that was with a train,’ Estelle says and groans, ‘it’s not the same.’

‘Sure it is! It’s better for the environment.’

‘That is true,’ Daddy says, ‘but we need to get out of Europe once in a while too. We’ll climate compensate. I’ll go vegan again for a bit.’

Everyone in the kitchen groans loudly.

‘What!?’ Daddy seems genuinely confused and Alec starts laughing. Tata and I share a glance.

‘Dan, nothing is more annoying than you being vegan,’ Alec chips in from the couch. ‘We never have milk and everything you cook tastes like broccoli.’

I laugh, but I’m the only one this time. Tata rolls his eyes with a glimmer. ‘Don’t get cocky, punk. But yeah, it does kinda taste like broccoli.’

Now everyone around the table is laughing again. Daddy scoffs. ‘Hey, at least I’m doing something for the environment! And besides–’

‘Dan,’ Tata says and I thank him in my head for interrupting yet another one of Daddy’s saving-the-environment rants, ‘it’s 6:30.’

Daddy exhales. ‘Well, it’s almost time then. Let’s go to New York, you guys.’

My stomach twists and I’m not sure if the sensation is good or bad. It doesn’t matter, though. We’re going to New York!

—

My family lives in a pretty big house. Because of my parents’ job as successful YouTubers, not to mention daddy’s business and all, we’ve always had plenty of money and our house has always reflected that. We’re five people living in a three-storey home, with a pool, hot tub and even a sauna, two extra guest rooms, a fancy dining room and four bathrooms. I know we’re lucky and I try not to take our wealth for granted, I have less fortunate friends in school and when I’m at their houses I want to feel just as at home as I do in my actual home.

But despite the big house and the luxury and the expensive pool, our house is  _nothing_  compared to the size of this airport.

Everywhere I look there are people. It’s seven o’clock in the morning and I see people fully dressed with coffee mugs in their hands already. A couple of kids walk by with little Union Jack flags in their hands, happily waving them around while taking in the environment. I look to my left and there are about 25 secondary school students in brown and yellow uniforms next to us. One of them takes a look at us and excitedly whispers to one of their friends, who seems to be just as impressed with us.

I have to physically stop myself from rolling my eyes. Not these people again.

’Excuse me, Dan and Phil?’ They’re kind of cute, seems about my age, with a curly, black ponytail long enough to be Rapunzel’s. I can’t help feeling a bit jealous.

Daddy, Tata and Estelle take a couple of pictures with the kids while Alec and I stand to the side. Estelle loves meeting fans of our family, she usually hugs them twice as long as our dads do and then she ends up talking to them instead. The fans know who we are, we’re on their channels now and then. I’ve met a couple of people that have even given me fanart of myself. It’s kind of cool.

I look over at Alec and he’s looking at his phone, on what seems to be an Instagram page of a teenager his age. I nudge him a little. ‘Hey, who’s that?’ I wiggle my eyebrows.

At first, I thought he was going to get mad and push me away, but he laughs and ruffles my hair. ‘Nobody,’ he says and I can tell he tries to look unaffected, but the red tint on his cheeks proves me otherwise.

I’m just about to investigate a little more when Daddy calls for us. It’s time for us to head to the plane.

The plane.

My heartbeat speeds up immediately and my conscience drowns in a thousand questions.  _What if I get lost in the airport and my family leaves without me?_  The gigantic airport that was oh-so-exciting a minute ago closes in on me as if it is deflating, depriving the air of more and more oxygen.  _What if the engines stop working mid-flight and we descend towards a painful death?_  Inhaling deeply, exhaling quickly and the process repeats.  _What if something happens and we have to jump and I’m asleep so everyone jumps without me? What if Estelle doesn’t notice we’re falling and she doesn’t have her seatbelt on? What if–_

I look towards Tata, who’s holding Estelle in his left hand and a bag of luggage in his right. Estelle looks so happy, ecstatic. Doesn’t she understand what’s about to happen to them?

I run up next to Tata, quickly grabbing his forearm since I’m too short to reach anything above it. ‘Tata…’

‘Yes, sweetheart?’ he says and smiles at me. It’s a warm and protective smile. He looks down at me and I can tell he notices something is wrong, because when he sees my face, which is probably covered in sweat, he lets go of Estelle and places his arm around me, holding me close to his chest. I let the tears softly fall from my eyes, my legs shaking violently as we’re walking towards the check-in. The queue is long, so it’ll probably take a while before we get on the plane anyway. This calms me slightly, although the sight of nicely dressed staff at the front of the queues reminds me that sooner or later, we’re going to be flying, and that isn’t a comforting thought.

‘May, what’s going on?’ Tata says and hugs me tighter.  _We’ll crash and die. We’ll die. Everyone will leave without me._

I take a deep breath. ‘Tata, I’m scared.’

I feel ridiculous saying it. I’m eleven years old, most people my age have been on planes before and they weren’t scared at all. It’s stupid. I’m stupid.  _You’ll die, May. Everyone will die._

‘What, about the plane?’ Tata puts his hand behind my head and strokes my hair, just like he used to do when I was a kid. I lean back into the touch, closing my eyes as I nod slowly. ‘Aw, baby, it’s okay. Daddy and I have been on planes lots of times and nothing ever happened to us.’

‘But what if something happens and I–’

‘Shh, baby, listen.’ Tata lets go of the luggage and hugs me with both arms around my head, rocking me back and forth. I breathe deeply into his chest, feeling his sweater soak up with my tears. He looks me in the eyes and I look back, lifting a hand up to wipe my eyes. ‘Nothing is going to happen. Flying is the safest way to travel there is. And even if something were to happen, they have plenty of tools on-board to help us in emergency situations. Everything is going to be fine. In a few hours, you’re going to be sipping milkshakes in Central Park and then you won’t even know why you were scared in the first place, huh?’

He smiles and shakes me lightly. I smile back. ‘Yeah,’ I say, ‘but I’m still scared.’

‘Hey, listen, I’m not letting anything happen to my favourite girl, okay? And neither is Daddy or Alec or Estelle. If you get scared during the flight, all of us will be there to comfort you. It’s going to be fine, little bug.’

The queue moves and Tata lets go of me to grab the luggage. I wipe my eyes again, finally feeling my breathing starting to calm down. Someone puts an arm around me again. I turn around and this time it is Alec hugging me, his light teenage stubble scratching against my head. ‘Ow!’ I yell and let out a giggle.

He laughs. ‘Sorry. I heard you and Ph– Tata, and I just wanted you to know that if you ever feel scared, big brother’s here for you.’ He holds out a fist and I bump it with mine, just like we’ve done since we were kids.

I look at him and smile. ‘Thanks.’

He kisses my head. ‘You’re welcome, wuss.’

I shove him. He shoves me back. We don’t even notice the queue moved again until Daddy calls our names about five meters ahead of us.

—

Ten minutes. Our flight leaves in ten minutes.

We’re queuing outside the boarding gate, waiting for our turn to get on-board. I’m clutching my boarding pass in one hand and Daddy’s hand in the other, trying not to fall down on the floor from the thunderstorm in my body.  _I’m excited_ , I tell myself, over and over as we get closer to the gate.  _It’s going to be fine. Tata said Daddy and he never got hurt when flying. It’s going to be fine. It’s going to be–_

And then I see the aeroplane.

I knew planes were large, but, how the hell is that gigantic thing supposed to fly that high up in the air? For  _eight_  hours? I clutch Daddy’s hand tighter as we walk closer and closer to the aeroplane doors, closing my eyes so tightly I see stars.  _You will crash and die_. Daddy puts his arm around me and I lean into his warm body but  _the plane, the crash, the–_

‘Welcome aboard! Enjoy your flight.’ The flight attendant smiles and waves at me and Daddy, and then Estelle, Tata and Alec behind us. I look up at her. She doesn’t look scared at all. How is she not scared? She does this for a living, she could get hurt any minute while she works. But she does this every day. Well, maybe not every day, but close to. She flies more often than I go on rollercoasters and it doesn’t scare her at all.

I swallow. If she can do it, so can I. I can be brave.

_But it’s so big._

My seat is next to Daddy. I sit right by the window. On the other side of daddy is Alec, while Tata and Estelle sit in the row next to us. If I get scared, I can always talk to Daddy. He’ll know what to do. In the meantime, I’ll just listen to some music. Yeah, music works. I pull out my phone and my earbuds from my pocket, hands tingling from anticipation and anxiety.

Crap. Forgot about airplane mode. I frantically refresh my library. I can’t believe I forgot to download music for the flight. Well, that helps plenty.  _How am I supposed to survive this now?_

The plane’s engine starts up and my head gets lighter, vision blurring as I quietly begin to gasp for air. Safety instructions are displayed but I can’t listen, my brain is too fogged with images of my family, descending towards the ground and me going with them. Daddy puts his hand on my shaking knee and I lean into his arm but it’s not working, and as the plane works its way down the runway his shirtsleeve stains with tears and  _oh, no, we’re flying, we’re going to die, it’s so high, I’m going to die-_  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🛬~

 

 

 

 

**amazingphil posted a new picture.**

 

 

 

 


End file.
